Heart of the Warrior
by Insane Angel Author
Summary: Adriane hasn’t always lived at Ravenswood. So what was moving to Stonehill like for her? Emily was Adriane’s first human friend. What was life like before that? And how did she meet Storm?


Adriane hasn't always lived at Ravenswood. So what was moving to Stonehill like for her? Emily was Adriane's first human friend. What was life like before that? And how did she meet Storm?  
  
A/N:: This is my newest fanfic…I know I have another one, Lorelei's Return, going, and I may or may not continue it…I'm not getting many reviews on it. Anyway, I was wondering one day what Adriane's life was like before she met Emily, so I decided to find out. :-P Anyway, here's the first chapter…if there's enough interest, and I enjoy writing it, I'll continue.  
  
Disclaimer:: Well…all the characters, places, ideas, ect. that you know belong to Rachel Roberts, the author of AvALon  
  
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.::Chapter One :: The Loner::.  
  
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Adriane Charday groaned to herself as rays of sunlight spilled through her bedroom window, waking her from a restless slumber. She sat up groggily, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Another day," she muttered to herself. "'Full of wonderful opportunities!'" she quoted her Gran sarcastically. The twelve-year-old rolled her dark eyes, standing and heading for the bathroom, where a cold shower awaited her.  
  
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Adriane, feeling a bit less tired after a nice shower, pulled on a t-shirt, pants, and hiking boots, her usual attire, all of them in the color black. Peering into the mirror, the girl pulled back her dark hair and trotted toward the kitchen. "Hey, Gran," she greeted the old woman sitting at the table, pulling up a chair for herself. Adriane's eccentric grandmother was caretaker of Ravenswood Wildlife Preserve, and lived in a small cottage near Ravenswood Manor. The owner of Ravenswood had disappeared mysteriously before Adriane had arrived. Recalling the circumstances of her living situation, Adriane snorted. Her parents, traveling artists, had decided it was best if their daughter discontinued her constant migration, and had packed her off to Gran's house. That was about five months ago, but Adriane still refused to forgive them.  
  
'They probably think I'll stop being such an outcast now,' she reflected, with another snort of disgust. Her parents hardly seemed to know her. School hadn't even started yet and already Adriane Charday had been labeled as the weird girl living with the witch in the haunted manor.  
  
Adriane snapped back to attention, realizing that Gran was speaking. "Little Bird, have you made any friends yet?" Adriane winced, both at the Indian name Gran used for her and at the question.  
  
"Uh…kind of," she answered, biting her lip. "I talked to a couple of girls the other day," 'Or,' she added silently, 'They snickered behind my back at the loner from the witch's domain.' But she couldn't tell Gran the truth. Adriane could tell that it hurt her grandmother to see her granddaughter without any friends. Adriane, however, didn't mind at all.  
  
Gran smiled gently. "That's good," she spoke in her usual quiet, calm voice. "See, Little Bird? I told you you just needed time."  
  
Adriane winced. Somehow, lying to her grandmother always seemed so horrible. "I'm going to go out, Gran. I'll be back for dinner," without waiting for a reply, the dark-haired girl flew out the door, leaving the old woman staring thoughtfully after her.  
  
"Find a friend today, Little Bird," she whispered.  
  
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Adriane breathed in the fresh scent of the forest. Being out here on the preserve sent her a sense of freedom, as if she were cooped up most of the time. The girl ran, racing across the terrain, her spirit soaring much greater distances than her body could endure. She threw her head back, openly defying the trees that tried to halt her, penning her in. She mocked their futile efforts.  
  
Sometimes, in the wildest of her joyous flights, she thought she saw something, running beside her. It was a trickle of mist, almost in the shape of a dog- no, a wolf, but it did not feel dangerous. In fact, it seemed to heighten her feelings.  
  
Today, the ghostly mist was nowhere to be found, and Adriane was somewhat surprised to find herself missing the strange presence. "Great, my first friend is a cloud," she mumbled. "Oh, yes Gran, I DID make a friend today! Sorry, you can't meet him, he's a floating ball of mist!"  
  
"I am a she," the unearthly voice drifted through Adriane's head suddenly. With a squeak of surprise, she stumbled and fell, landing sprawled in the grass and dirt.  
  
"Who said that?" the raven-haired girl called out, whirling around. The trees around her were silent, but for the chirping of birds. After a few wild moments in which Adriane decided she was going crazy, the girl stood with a small shrug. "Now I'm hearing things…wonderful," she made a face, kicking at a rock. It scuttled across the ground and clanged against the metal gate surrounding Ravenswood.  
  
A high-pitched, frightened voice suddenly shrieked, "Eeek!"  
  
Adriane's head shot up as she glowered, "Don't mess with me anymore, you stupid mist!"  
  
"Mist?" the preppy voice scoffed. "Do you make it a habit of speaking to clouds?" A head of curly blonde hair inserted itself in Adriane's vision. That sneering, perfectly chiseled face could only belong to one of Stonehill's popular snobs.  
  
'Wonderful..' Adriane thought. 'An encounter with one of those stupid brats is just what I needed to perfect this day.' Aloud, though, she only said, "You're that one girl…Michelle."  
  
"It's Molly, duh!" she corrected, flipping her perfect mane before glaring icily at Adriane. "And of course I know who you are; the geek that belongs to that witch!"  
  
Adriane clenched her fists, gritting her teeth. 'Who cares what this Barbie replica thinks!' she told herself. "Get away from here! It's private property!"  
  
"Who would want to own this dump?" Molly peered into the trees, and Adriane noted with satisfaction that the girl suppressed a shudder.  
  
The warrior hid a grin. "Well, the place is really quite fascinating…all sorts of animals live here! Wolves, bears, tigers…they all run loose though, so we don't know how many there are," she exaggerated with a small shrug. "It's extremely dangerous, though!" she continued with a knowing nod.  
  
"Oh please!" Molly's voice quavered slightly. "They wouldn't let you keep this place if that were true!" she inched away from the gate slowly.  
  
"None of that is true, Molly!" cried a red-headed girl as she walked toward the two girls. "Don't listen to her, she's a creep!"  
  
Adriane bit her lip. What to do to get rid of these two? She tuned back in to their conversation, hearing Molly's voice regain confidence, "You're right, Heather…I mean, look at the way she dresses! She's such a dwee- ahhh!"  
  
Adriane glanced up in alarm as the blonde girl's words were cut off with a scream. "Th-There's mist crawling up her legs!" Molly cried, pointing a quivering finger at Adriane. When the dark haired girl glanced down, she saw that there was, indeed, a silvery mist wrapping around her…and, it was working its way up her body!  
  
"What's going on!?" shrieked Heather, eyes wide. "She's disappearing! Look at her legs!"  
  
Adriane could still see her legs just fine, but as she gazed at the two popular girls, she realized that their faces were pale, eyes wide. She really was disappearing! The mist was engulfing her!  
  
The strange substance had reached her waist and was now wrapping around her arms. Adriane raised her right hand, trying to shake the mist off, but it continued to travel toward her shoulder, toward her neck…  
  
"She's gone!" Molly breathed, scrambling backward, away from the gate. "C'mon, I'm out of here!" the two girls turned and dashed away from the gate, toward the park.  
  
Adriane stood, rooted to the spot in front of the gate. Her eyes widened as the two girls ran for their lives. All around the dark-haired warrior, silvery mist flowed.  
  
"I knew I shouldn't have come here…" she whispered.  
  
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So, here's the end of chapter one…pretty boring, I know, but hopefully things'll get interesting…now that the "mysterious" mist has made contact….Hm, what could that mist be? wink, wink, nudge, nudge Anyway, if you wish me to continue, then review! I could always use some opinions and ideas! 


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